�������t¶��

They’d load up on squirming live shrimp, jadeite bundles of water spinach and fat, oblong lotus roots.

Other sculptures involve playful manipulation of existing objects, like the melting cake plates held aloft by the bent fingers of jadeite ring holders in “Hands and Handkerchief.”

Made from the mineral jadeite, the chisel-style implement was found at the site of Ek Way Nal, a Maya salt works in southern Belize that is now submerged in a saltwater lagoon.

“This jadeite tool is the first of its kind that has been recovered with its wooden handle intact,” said anthropologist Heather McKillop of Louisiana State University, who led the research project, in a statement.

Last month, during a series of sales in Hong Kong, Sotheby’s said participation from mainland Chinese bidders fell 14% compared with the year before, hurting its sales of jadeite and traditional Chinese paintings.